Post sunset lighting can be absolutely sublime.
Catch the right evening, and the sky will develop a beautiful colour gradiant, moving from orange at the horizon up to a deep blue overhead.
These two hues, being opposites on the colour wheel, combine to make a dynamic composition that's very pleasing to the eye.
The colours are anchored by the solid black mass of the foreground rock, rendered in complete silhouette on purpose in order to give an area of negative space which boosts the perception of colour in other areas of the scene.
But what about that moon? Was it really there?
The answer is 'no'. I added the moon in post processing to give a balanced focal point to the image as a whole.
Is it real? No. Is it believable? Yes.
I took care to choose an image of the moon in the correct phase for the position I wanted to put it in, and I made sure the lit portion was pointing in the right direction, towards the already set sun.
So even though the moon is an addition to this scene, it is, I trust, a sensitive one.
Filename - rock moon 01.jpg
Camera - Canon 5D
Lens - 100-400mm zoom @ 100mm
Exposure - 0.6sec @ f11, ISO100
Location - Moel Famau, North Wales
This image - 533x800px JPEG
Conversion - ACR & PS-CS2
Comments - Tripod, mirror lock up and cable release used to prevent camera movement.
All content copyright © Howard Litherland 2009-2024 unless otherwise stated.